LICENCIATURA EN GESTIÓN AEROPORTUARIA

Trabajo Práctico Integrador

“Chapecoense Accident”

MATERIA: Inglés II.

PROFESORA: Wojtyszyn, Cristina.

ALUMNOS/AS: -Meza, Luciana.

-Scordamaglia, Lautaro.

-Stegmann, Johanna.

COMISIÓN: 541.

FECHA DE ENTREGA: 14 de noviembre, 2023.

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CONTENTS

Synopsis.........................................................................................................................3

Investigation..................................................................................................................7

Conclussion...................................................................................................................9

Bibliography................................................................................................................10

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Synopsis

Aircraft: AVRO 146-RJ85

Date and time of accident: 29 November 2016, 02:59 hrs1
Location: “Cerro Gordo”, Jurisdiction of the Municipality of La Unión,
Department of Antioquia - Colombia
Operator: Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación – LAMIA
CORPORATION S.R.L
Persons on board: 04 Crew 73 Passengers

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The tragedy of the Chapecoense

On November 28th in 2016 at 22:15 PM (Colombia local time), LaMia flight 2933 crashed in

Cerro Gordo, five minutes from José María Córdova airport in Medellín. This flight was from Sao

Pablo to Medellín, the Chapecoense soccer delegation was on it, they were heading to play the

South American Cup final match against Atlético Nacional. There were 77 passengers on board.

The flight 0B 739 took off from Sao Pablo’

airport and they had to make a stopover at the

Viru Viru International Airport in Bolivia

where they changed airlines to LaMia. The

flight had an estimated duration of 4 hours and

22 minutes. The aircraft was loaded with fuel

to have an autonomy of that same time, it was

questioned but approved to take off.

As they were descending, the alarm sounded. That sound warned the pilots: they had 20 minutes to

land before the fuel ran out. The pilots didn’t report this situation. The airport's air traffic controller

authorized the descent to continue towards runway 01, but the aircraft VivaColombia A320

requested landing priority because of a fuel leak. The LaMia pilots reported technical problems and

requested an emergency landing, so they were given preference.

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Unfortunately, engine 3 stopped

working, followed by engine 4. The

pilots didn’t report this event to the

control tower. Then, the “Master

Warning” alarm went off and engine

1 suffered a power reduction. The

engine 2 shut down and finally

engine 1 too. The pilot reported a

“total failure, no fuel”. This was the

last communication before the

accident. They lost altitude and speed until they collided into the mountain “Cerro Gordo”.

71 people died, including players, coaches, managers, crew members and journalists, and 6

survived.

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Investigation

The investigations showed a series of negligence caused the accident. The main cause was lack of

fuel, the aircraft had just enough fuel to reach the destination. They didn’t accomplish the

requirements for the minimum amount of fuel required to complete a flight, the alternative fuel or

the 45-minute reserve were not taken into account. The authorities should not have approved the

flight plan because it didn’t comply with these requirements.

The Pilots

Another cause was the decision made by the pilots: they didn’t make stops at any airports even

knowing the fuel shortage. They took a long time to declare an emergency to obtain the privilege of

landing before the other planes and even longer to communicate the fuel shortage.

The investigation identified the following causal factors:

• Inappropriate planning and execution of the flight, by the Operator, because the quantities of

fuel required to fly from the destination airport to an alternate airport, including reserve fuel,

contingency fuel and minimum landing fuel were not considered.

• Sequential flame-out of the 4 engines while the aircraft was in a holding descent, as

consequence of the exhaustion of fuel on board.

• Inadequate decision making on the part of the aircraft operator company management,

lacking assurance in the implementation of operational safety in its processes.

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 • Loss of situational awareness and wrongful decision making by the flight crew, which

maintained the fixation of continuing a flight with an extremely limited amount of fuel. The

crew was aware of the low level of fuel remaining; however, it did not take the corrective

actions required to land at an aerodrome and obtain additional fuel which would allow them

to continue the flight safely.

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Conclussion

Injuries to persons

Damage to aircraft
The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces against the ground.

Other damage
Significant damage to the environment and surrounding vegetation.

It is proven that the company LaMia had organizational problems, a complex economic situation

and difficulties in its operational safety management. They didn’t follow the international fuel

standards. It was the biggest sports tragedy in the history of South America.

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Bibliography

Grupo de Investigación de Accidentes – GRIAA. 16/08/2017. Informe Final Accidente. AeroCivil .

https://www.aerocivil.gov.co/autoridad-de-la-aviacion-civil/investigacion/listado%20de

%20accidentes%202016/COL-16-37-GIA%20CP2933.pdf

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